Former Amazon.com Manager Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison for Stealing $9.4 Million
A former manager at Amazon.com, Kayricka Wortham, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after being found guilty of stealing over $9.4 million from the company. Along with six other individuals, Wortham was charged in connection with the theft in Georgia, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern Department of Georgia.
Wortham, 32, worked as an operations manager at an Amazon Warehouse in Georgia from August 2020 to March 2022. In her role, she supervised other workers and had the authority to approve new vendors and vendor invoices for the company. Taking advantage of her position, Wortham submitted over $10 million in invoices for fake vendors, leading Amazon to unknowingly pay her and the others involved $9.4 million. She also had her employees add the fake vendor information into the system.
The press release states, “Once the information was entered, Wortham approved the fake vendors, enabling them to submit invoices. Wortham and co-conspirators then submitted fictitious invoices to Amazon, falsely representing that the vendors had provided goods and services to Amazon. Wortham approved the invoices, causing Amazon to transfer millions in fraudulent proceeds to bank accounts controlled by her and her co-conspirators.”
Officials revealed that Wortham worked with her partner Brittany Hudson, as well as Demetrius Hines and Laquettia Blanchard, who were both employees at Amazon. Hines, who worked in loss prevention, used stolen personal information purchased from JaQuan Frazier, who allegedly obtained it from Darrel J. Burgo.
“Hines and Blanchard were paid in fraudulent proceeds,” the press release states. “Hines also recruited Jamar L. James, Sr., another Operations Manager at Amazon’s location in Duluth, Georgia, into the scheme. Like Wortham, James allegedly approved fake vendors and fictitious invoices, including after Wortham left Amazon in March 2022.”
While Wortham and Hudson were out on bond, they engaged in new criminal conduct, resulting in the cancellation of their bonds. They attempted to open a hookah lounge in Atlanta, Georgia, with the assistance of CRU Franchising Company in January 2023. However, they lied about the Amazon fraud charges against them, claiming that the charges had been dismissed. They even emailed fraudulent court documents to CRU Franchising Company, which appeared to show the dismissal of the charges and had forged signatures of Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten Sr. as well as forged seals and signatures of the Clerk of the Court.
“Wortham also allegedly emailed CRU doctored bank statements and personal financial statements that fraudulently inflated the balances in her accounts to support the franchise deal,” the press release states.
Wortham pleaded guilty to the fraud charges on November 30, 2022, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She has also been ordered to pay restitution to Amazon in the amount of $9,469,731.45. Additionally, she is facing charges for defrauding CRU Franchising Company and forging the signature of a federal judge and seal of the Court.
Hines also pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy on November 30, 2022. Blanchard pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy on June 27, and Frazier pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony. The sentencing for all three defendants will take place at a later date.
In addition, Hudson and James were indicted for conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering. Hudson was also charged with forging the signature of a federal judge and seal of the Court on June 20. Burgo was charged with conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
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